Eat to the Beat: How to Reserve Your Festival Food for Coachella

The post below entitled, “How to Reserve Your Festival Food Now for Coachella,” originally appeared on FWx.

We've been to Coachella a couple of times now, and it has one of the best collections of music anywhere in the world. But here's the thing: There are serious trade-offs. The weather in the desert is less than hospitable, bathrooms are hard to come by, and the lines for food might make you think you are standing in front of the last funnel cake stand on earth. But the festival is attacking that last problem this year.

The festival partnered with the dining app Reserve to let festival-goers actually make reservations to eat during the madness. Last year, Coachella gave attendees pop-up restaurants for the first time with food from the likes of L.A.'s Bäco Mercat and Night + Market. This year, they are expanding their offerings and will actually make it easier to get the food—at least, if you plan ahead. Using the Reserve app will give diners with VIP wristbands the opportunity to get $50 prix fixe menus from chefs like street food pioneer Roy Choi. The app also lets you pay ahead of time, so there aren't any issues trying to split a check in the 105 degree heat when you just want to get back and hear Ratatat.

For anyone without a VIP wristband who wants to splurge, you can reserve a table at Outstanding in the Field, a four-course pop-up put on by a rotating group of chefs that comes with cocktail and wine pairings, as well as VIP access for the entire day for $225.

Before making reservations, everyone should know that while the app itself is free, Reserve charges for their service. Coachella reservations will cost $5 apiece. But anything that makes good food easier to get at a festival full of 90,000 people is fine by us. Reservations are now live, so if you're hoping for a little Roy Choi between sets, start making plans soon. You can grab the Reserve app in the iTunes or Google Play stores.